Archive for the 'Winnipeg Jets' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

ANAHEIM – Sensing an opportunity to close in on a fourth straight Pacific Division title, the Ducks will try to keep their hold on first place when they play the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night in the regular-season home finale at Honda Center.

The Ducks (44-24-10) have a one-point edge on the second-place Kings, who play at Calgary after dropping a 3-2 decision to Vancouver on Monday. Anaheim also has one game in hand as the team meet for the fifth and final regular-season matchup Thursday at Staples Center.

“I think after L.A. losing last night, [it] kind of opens up a little bit of a window for us to come out with a big effort,” center Ryan Getzlaf said. “Put ourselves in a good position for Thursday.”

Shorthanded goals by Nate Thompson and Ryan Kesler powered a complete effort by the Ducks on Sunday in their 3-1 win over Dallas. John Gibson (20-12-3, 2.04 GAA, .920 SV%) made 24 saves and is set to make his fifth straight start.

Gibson, who has allowed five goals in 102 shots over his last four games for a .951 save percentage, could be the goalie down the stretch and the starter to open the Stanley Cup playoffs as Frederik Andersen is still recovering from a concussion suffered last week against Calgary.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Returning to the spot where they clinched their first-round playoff sweep of Winnipeg last spring, the Ducks make their only appearance at MTS Centre on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Jets.

The Ducks (39-22-9) will try to put wins together for the first time since their 11-game winning streak ended March 7 in a home shootout loss to Washington. They’ll need to as the Kings have a six-point lead in the Pacific Division, while San Jose is just one back of them in third place.

In the playoff format, the division’s second- and third-place teams will play each other in the opening round.

“We know San Jose and L.A. aren’t losing too many more games so we’ve got to put our best foot forward here,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Especially with the home record being what it is, you’d certainly like to have home-ice advantage in the first round.”

Special teams have been a powerful weapon for the Ducks during their 27-7-3 surge since Christmas. They’re now tied for first in the NHL in the power play (23.2 percent) and are atop the league in penalty killing (87.1 percent).

ANAHEIM – John Gibson figures to get his shot at posting a third straight shutout when the Ducks host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night at Honda Center to kick off their longest homestand of the season.

Gibson (7-4-2, 1.68 GAA, .931 SV%) stopped a total of 35 shots in consecutive 1-0 wins over Calgary and Edmonton on a road trip in which the Ducks (15-15-7) gained five out of a possible six points. His shutout streak is at 157 minutes, 31 seconds.

Strong goaltending and defense allowed the Ducks to be successful on the road because their offense continues to be stagnant as they scored only one goal in each of the three games. Their 68 goals are 10 less than the next worst team in the NHL.

No other player is close to Corey Perry’s team-leading 13 goals. Among those who are slumping badly are Jakob Silfverberg (no points in eight games), Carl Hagelin (one goal and point in 12), Patrick Maroon (one assist in 15) and Andrew Cogliano (two assists in 12).

Mike Santorelli, who played his best game as a Duck on Friday in Vancouver, stopped an eight-game pointless streak. Ryan Kesler got his second goal (and point) in 12 games.

ANAHEIM -- Part of Bob Murray's reshaping of the Ducks last summer in getting centers Ryan Kesler and Nate Thompson was to improve his team's work in the faceoff circle.

The fruits of that focus point paid off in the regular season and, especially so, in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Ducks have been claiming faceoffs at a 55.4 percent rate, which is second only to now-eliminated Washington. They held decisive advantages over Winnipeg and Calgary in their series wins over each.

Now in the Western Conference finals, the Ducks should get a tougher challenge with Chicago. The Blackhawks haven't been as decisive but they're still winning draws at a 51.4 percent rate.

"Well, statistically they’ve got better faceoff men," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We’ll have to be a little more focused on every faceoff and every attempt. They’ve got a little more experience at the faceoff circle than Calgary had for sure, with [Sean] Monahan and such. Winnipeg had young guys in the middle as well.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The one-year anniversary of the Kings' Game 7 win over San Jose to finish off their historic comeback from a 3-0 playoff series deficit is coming up in eight days.

It is prized knowledge to the Winnipeg Jets these days. The memory of that remains fresh to a team that is staring at such a scenario in Game 4 on Wednesday night, having to win the first of four straight against the Ducks to join the Kings and three other teams in NHL history.

In other words, it is possible. Written in capital letters on a dry erase board in the Jets' dressing room are the words, "Why Not Us?"

"You take a look at what happened last year with the team that won the Stanley Cup in their first round," Winnipeg defenseman Tyler Myers said. "Why not us? Why can’t we do it?"

History, for the most part, says they can't. But out of the four teams that have done the near-impossible, two of them have come within the last five years. Philadelphia's run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final was highlighted by its comeback against Boston in the Eastern Conference.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks will start with against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday night at MTS Centre. Frederik Andersen (3-0-0, 2.27 GAA, .923 SV%) made 31 saves in Game 3 and improved to 6-2 in his limited overall postseason experience. Coach Bruce Boudreau said there will be no changes to his lineup, confirming that Nate Thompson (upper body) won't play. "He’s skating well," Boudreau said. "He’s getting closer and we miss him. He’s a really good player." Corey Perry leads all players in the series with three goals and five points. Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg each have four points. James Wisniewski and Jiri Sekac have yet to play in the series while Korbinian Holzer is still awaiting his first game with the Ducks since coming over in a March 2 trade with Toronto.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The goaltending in this Western Conference first-round playoff series between the Ducks and Winnipeg Jets has been no issue. Even in a Game 3 that ended in a 5-4 score.

About the only difference in the high-quality battle between Frederik Andersen of the Ducks and Ondrej Pavelec of the Jets is that Andersen is coming up with one more big save than Pavelec in the first three games. And it's a good reason why the Ducks have a 3-0 series lead.

After Ryan Kesler provided another third-period rally on his game-tying goal with 2:14 left, the Ducks still had plenty of work to do. Sami Vatanen flipped the puck into the stands for a delay of game penalty, giving the Jets a power play for the final 1:49 of regulation.

Moments after Winnipeg's Bryan Little hit the outside of the post with a shot, Andersen delivered his best save of the series when he got over to his left and lunged forward to rob Little with his glove hand with 1:01 left.

"He had it on my right side," Andersen said. "I couldn’t really see through the guys. I kind of ended up on my stomach a little bit going over there and I just kind of tried to get my arm up. It hit me and luckily it hit Stoney (Clayton Stoner) as well so I can cover it right away."

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- It was only fitting that white flurries of snow fell from the sky Monday morning, hours before the great "Whiteout" hits the MTS Centre.

Stacks of white T-shirts were already in place to be handed out to those who will enter the NHL's smallest arena, which is also the loudest and figures to be downright deafening in the moments before the Winnipeg Jets host the Ducks for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

It is what to expect when a hockey-loving city that's madly in love with its team gets to experience the NHL playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades. Especially when that city lost its beloved original Jets once before.

"People have been waiting for this moment for a while," Winnipeg center Bryan Little said. "First they were excited to have their team back. Now they're excited that we're in the playoffs, and now they want us to win.

"It's not just the excitement out in the streets, it's in this dressing room, too. We're excited to be here, and we want to win, too. I don't think that anybody is satisfied with just making the playoffs.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks will put on the ice against the Winnipeg Jets for Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series Monday night at MTS Centre. Frederik Andersen (2-0, 1.50 GAA, .946 SV%) is back in net after stopping 28 of 29 shots in Game 2. One notable change will be at fourth-line center, where it appears Tomas Fleischmann will make his series debut as Chris Wagner (upper body) is not on the trip and will be out for Games 3 and 4. Nate Thompson (upper body) did skate with his teammates for the first time since getting hurt but could be a possibility for Game 4. After being the 28th-ranked team on the power play during the regular season, the Ducks are 3-for-7 with the main advantage in grabbed a 2-0 series lead. “I’ve said it right from the start before Game 1, we’ve been working hard," captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "Our power play’s been doing some pretty good things for the last month or so. Not necessarily scoring goals every time, and that’s all that anybody looks at stat-wise."

Bring up the terms Corsi and Fenwick, the two popular metrics that measure shot attempts, puck possession and zone time -- offensive and defensive -- for NHL teams and individual players, and you might get an eye roll from the veteran bench boss.

Some teams have brought statistics gurus into their front office to chart those types of numbers and many others in an effort to measurement to analyze the impact of players on the ice from a quantitative standpoint.

This coach is good with his own eye test. When a reporter asked him if possession numbers impact how he uses the players on his bench, Boudreau effectively gave a stiff arm to the fancy stats community.

“Geez,” Boudreau said, taking the question in. “It doesn’t have any impact on how I’m running the bench. We have matchups. If our matchups not working, we change the matchups. We don’t get the possession numbers after every period and say, ‘Oh wow, we better do something about this.